New Mutants #9 - Marvel

The threat of Selene, and Necrosha, seems to be consuming the X-Universe right now. However, with this issue . . there may be a new threat looming on the horizon. I have to give you some background though, in order to put what's going on into perspective. Selene absorbed Doug Ramsey into her techno-organic virus assault. But in doing so she made a mistake. Doug had already been infected with Warlock's T/O, and between that and his powers over language he seems to have overwritten her code. Although he claims, he asked it to retreat . . 'nicely'. However, I don't think it was entirely his own effort. I think he was making progress, but it was the reemergence of Warlock and their connection that actually tipped the scales. During Doug's attack on Amara he cut off Warlock's head and sent it out deep into the ocean. But . . he adapted and found his way back. They're both in Jeffries and Dr Nemesis' lab now going through analysis. Both by machines and by Scott and Emma. Doug seems to have been drastically altered by his death and resurrection. He can now read all forms of language, including body language. 'I used to translate words . . but everything we touch, every movement we make creates information. Everything is a language, and I translate it all.' And Warlock? Warlock just says whatever crosses his mind. And he's got a few revelations. Most importantly are his observations of Illyana. Scott and Emma are talking when Warlock interrupts. 'Query. Are you referring to Illyana V2.0? Magik is not the original. In friendlanguage she is a pirated copy.' Which leads us to Illyana and Emma talking, and we get the real story of how she came back to be with this team. It seems she's actually Darkchilde from the future. In that future she saw everything destroyed by Legion. So she's come back to confront him. Basically, she's Illyana but without her soul. Which is why she's also looking for the blood-stones. Those are the stones that her soul has been fractured and put in to. During that time when the Young X-Men had gone into Limbo, they were actually being attacked by . .'The Elder Gods. The end of the world.' So while she's come back to try to save the world, these Elder Gods have also come back to end it. In the beginning of the issue we see some type of military installation that seems to have a portal to Hell in it. It becomes active and a General Ulysses and his troop come back through it. It seems that they've been in Hell for a few years. Their presence has been altered because of this ordeal, as I'm sure has been their souls. When Illyana is talking about the Elder Gods, at the end of the issue, it becomes clear to us that she's talking about General Ulysses and his men. There may be a threat worse than Selene on the horizon. I thought Zeb Wells did a great job with this issue. He's continuing the Necrosha story-line, but he's also planted the seed for this new one. I thought he did a great job of handling all of these characters. And I'm glad that the New Mutants are such an integral part of the X-Universe now. This issue we have a new artist on the scene . . Paul Davidson. At the beginning of the issue I wasn't sure about his style, but . . over the course of the book it really grew on me. These characters have always been one of my favorite parts of the X-Men mythos. I'm glad that they're back in the spotlight.